Participation of Sintang Orangutan Center in the 2025 Iban Sadap Weaving Festival
Thursday, 15-Jan-2026 Concluding its activities for 2025, Sintang Orangutan Center (SOC) had the opportunity to participate in the 2025 Iban Sadap Weaving Festival, held at the Sadap Longhouse in Menua Sadap Village, Embaloh Hulu Subdistrict, Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan. The three-day festival, which took place from December 18 to 20, 2025, carried the theme “Caring for Nature, Weaving Knowledge,” a powerful message that highlights the interconnectedness of culture, nature, and the collective identity of the Dayak Iban Sadap community. SOC’s participation in this festival reflects the organization’s commitment to expanding public awareness efforts, particularly in areas that still have the potential to serve as habitats for wild orangutans. The Embaloh Hulu region is known to retain significant forest cover that provides vital living space for wildlife, including orangutans.
Therefore, community education is a strategic approach to mitigating potential human–orangutan conflict, while also strengthening the understanding that orangutans are an inseparable part of a healthy forest ecosystem. Throughout the festival, SOC delivered educational sessions highlighting the interconnected roles of local communities, forests, and orangutans. One example emphasized was the role of orangutans as natural seed dispersers that support forest regeneration. Through their feeding activities and movement within the forest canopy, orangutans help maintain plant diversity, which ultimately supports the availability of forest resources for human communities. This understanding is essential in fostering the perspective that protecting orangutans also means safeguarding the balance of forest ecosystems that sustain local livelihoods. In addition to workshop sessions, SOC also hosted an information booth presenting its core rehabilitation framework, known as the 3R approach (Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Release), which outlines the center’s efforts in rescuing, rehabilitating, and eventually releasing orangutans back into their natural habitat.
The Iban Sadap Weaving Festival also shows the traditional weaving process, including the use of natural dyes derived from roots, leaves, tree bark, and forest fruits. This practice reflects local knowledge passed down through generations and demonstrates the close relationship between the Sadap community and the surrounding forest. Protecting natural dye plants indirectly supports forest conservation, as the sustainability of traditional weaving depends on the continued availability of healthy and diverse natural resources.
Through its participation in the 2025 Iban Sadap Weaving Festival, SOC hopes to encourage the community to further strengthen their cultural identity while reinforcing collective awareness that cultural preservation and environmental conservation are deeply interconnected and cannot be separated. By integrating local cultural values with conservation education, the festival serves as a platform for dialogue that brings together tradition, knowledge, and collaborative efforts to protect nature for future generations.
